Guest Post: 4 Ways to Make Money in October

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Guest Post By Nicole from Nicole’s Nickels:

This is month number 9 of ways YOU can make some money from home! I know many of you are on your way to becoming survey and mystery shopping experts!

1. Surveys

Remember to sign up for surveys using your separate “deals” email address. That way you can easily manage your survey invites – you’ll be getting a lot of them!

You can also read more about all of the survey companies I am signed up with and my experiences with them. Last month, I wrote a Top 10 FAQ’s post for surveys you may want to check out.

A. The first company for this week is E-Rewards. E-rewards is an invitation only survey company. I joined through Delta Skymiles but you can also join through Hilton HHonors, Hertz, Continental Airlines, and US Airways among others. I don’t have a link for you because of this – if you’re signed up with any of the programs above then contact them for an invite.

I get frequent screener surveys and am told quickly if I don’t qualify which I appreciate. You can choose from many magazine subscriptions to redeem your points. I get several of my favorite magazine subscriptions for FREE using my E-Rewards points!

B. The second survey company I wanted to bring you today is not a company but a type of survey – the university-sponsored survey. Unlike the other survey companies I talk about, these are affiliated with universities.

They are often thought based with no wrong or right answer and many pay via Amazon e-certificates which I love! You can get links for the 6 university survey companies I am signed up with by clicking here. It’s FREE to register with them and to earn the most money you’ll need to check them frequently. I sometimes receive emails when surveys are open though.

2. Mystery Shopping

If you’re new to mystery shopping, you’ll want to read my Mystery Shopping 101 post. If you are an experienced mystery shopper please be aware that it is a violation of your ICA with each company to reveal what places you shop with each company so please don’t jeopardize your shopper status in the comments of this post! You can also read more about what companies I shop for and my experiences with them. This month I wrote a Top 10 Mystery Shopping FAQ’s post you may want to check out.

Be professional! Accepting a mystery shopping assignment is accepting a job assignment. Follow instructions and meet all deadlines so you’ll be offered shops in the future.

A. The first mystery shopping company I wanted to tell you about today is Second to None. I recently completed my first shop with them and it went very smoothly. They email me several times a week about open shops which I appreciate – I don’t like having to remember to check the assignment board! Payment was made timely via Paypal and the shop form was straightforward. You can sign up by clicking HERE.

Remember, it’s FREE to sign up for the mystery shopping companies I discuss here. No legit mystery shopping company will ever make you pay to sign up. Sign up, get some assignments and earn some extra money today!

Join The Discussion

Comments 21

  1. Kara

    You can also join e-rewards through your upromise account, I did it and have added more money to my account via the surveys. I do tons of surveys and they make a decent amount of money, once you get started and get teh hang of it!

    • ginger

      I do this too! I don’t have kids but I have students loans. You can link your students loans through U-Promise & then earn rewards from E-Rewards that will help pay the loans! 🙂

  2. fairydust

    I have my first Second-to-None mystery shop in a couple days. I had to take a quick quiz about it after reading the scenario, but no problem there. Lots of instructions so I’m a little nervous since I’m still pretty new to mystery shopping, but hopefully it will go as well as my other shops have.

  3. Janet T

    I never seem to qualify for surveys unfortunately 🙁 so I try to find other ways in addition to swagbucks to earn a little extra online! One of my favorite sites is Unique Rewards, they have what is called Click Cash. All you do is view webpages for .01 each. You can earn up to .42 per day usually. Quick and easy! You also get $5 just for signing up! You can get paid by paypal or check. I have already received my first payment of $20 into paypal. LOVE this site! Check it out if you are interested 🙂

    https://www.uniquerewards.com/cgi-bin/main.cgi?cmd=newref&refid=146022

  4. Sarah B

    Ok I know I have signed up for mystery shoppers before, but I have never heard anything from them and just yesterday I received an email from Gary MarkSmith about a mystery shop. I would love to do it, but it wants me to email this guy with my address, age, marriage status, occupations, sex, and a few others. Does anyone who does myster shopping already- is this legit for the mystery shopper? Don’t want to just send out my info to some random person! Thanks!

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      I’ve only signed up with two Mystery Shopping companies so I can’t tell you for sure but that info was not requested from the two companies I signed up with. They both had information you filled out on their web site but I was never requested to send any information to an individual. I’d check on Voilation.com and see if you can find any information out about the co.

    • terri

      Once you sign up for mystery shops, it seems you can get spam mystery shop emails. Be careful. Why don’t you go back to the original shop link and see if the same request is there? Usually you provide all the info they need in your profile in the beginning…they never come back and ask you for information again…be careful with what you send. FInd your original mystery shop and type it in, do not click on the link.

  5. susie

    just wanted to say that i’m signed up for a lot of these university studies as well, and while there isn’t always a ton of online surveys available, they’re really interesting to take when you get the chance and they do pay really well! plus, you’re helping out student so everybody wins 🙂

  6. Sarah

    I like the survey company, Opinion Outpost. You can cash out with just $5 and I always request a check and usually have it within 2 weeks if not earlier.

  7. crystal

    Just a warning. I just spent 15 minutes applying and it told me that there is technical difficulties once I was finished and to apply at a later time! annoying!

    • Les

      Me too.

    • Kari

      Same here! At Second to None!

    • Sam

      It did me too, but everythihng still went through. I have my first assignment tomorrow!

  8. bali

    Thanks for mentioning the university studies – I’m only signed up with Yale so far (won 2 x $20 amazon gc last year, and just got a $50 gc for correctly predicting the outcome of a football game (how weird is that)); now I’ll sign up with the other ones, definitely very interesting surveys!

  9. Nona

    I was almost done with my application and then the site crashed. I guess all of us Hip2savers decided to apply at the same time.

  10. Julianne

    Sarah B…honestly i wouldn’t reply to an e-mail with that personal information…sounds fishy to me…Anyway, i participate in the e-rewards and they also have a reward of a $25 gift card for American Eagle! But u have to earn $45 first…almost there! Just in time for Christmas tho!

  11. Cricket @ A Thrifty Penny

    It seems like E-Rewards is going down hill. I signed up about 3 years ago and there were lots of rewards to choose from. Now there are very few, the magazines are overpriced (for us deal shoppers) and the borders rewards can only be redeemed once per 6 months I believe. It seems like the surveys pay less than other companies. The quick surveys are great though, usually under a minute and get .10 or .15. Otherwise not worth the time unless you can use the hotel points or airline miles. If you could get in under U-Promise that might be better. Just my experience.

  12. aw

    I have about 3 or 4 mystery shopping agencies I’m working with. The first one did not have a lot of jobs, mostly the same thing. The second have very few close to home. I like one better than the other because it’s simple and you can submit forms online. There’s the other that’s very detail oriented and I haven’t tried it out yet, but will this week. Just be careful you don’t get mixed up. I think I goofed up on one and am not sure if I’m still in. Yeah, I should stick to two favorites..

    • Julia

      Which one lets you submit forms online? How much is the pay range per job?

  13. Freebies Link

    Awesome tips and links. I’m gonna do some online surveys!

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